Absorbent personal care articles intended to absorb discharged bodily fluids are well known in the art. Such absorbent articles generally comprise a fibrous mass or other absorbent core which can absorb and hold body fluids. Similarly, it is well known that feminine care articles have been employed to absorb and hold liquids, such as urine and/or menses. A typical structure of an absorbent article includes a fluid impermeable back sheet, a fluid permeable top sheet and an absorbent core positioned between the back sheet and the top sheet. Prior absorbent articles have also included various other features to improve fluid handling, such as intake layers, distribution layers, retention layers and the like. In these absorbent personal care articles, the top sheet is the body-facing side of the absorbent article and the back sheet is the garment-facing side of the absorbent article.
Generally, the absorbent articles are held in place during use by using the wearer's waist and elastic materials in the waist portion of the absorbent product in place during use, in the case of pant-like garments, such as diapers and training pants, or by attaching the absorbent article to the underwear or undergarment of a user, in the case of pads or liners. Current methods of attaching the absorbent article to the underwear or undergarment of a user include placing an adhesive on the garment-facing side of the back sheet, having optional flaps (wings) that extend from the longitudinal sides of the absorbent article which wrap around the crotch portion of the underwear or undergarment of the user and a combination of the adhesive and the flaps.
It has also been suggested to use an adhesive to adhere the absorbent article to the skin of the user. However, the design of these absorbent articles was essentially the same as the absorbent articles which were attached to the underwear or undergarment of the user. That is, the adhesive is applied to the body-facing surface of the top sheet. Alternatively, in another design, a portion of the back sheet was wrapped around and over the top sheet. This portion of the back sheet which is wrapped around and over the top sheet becomes a body facing surface. An adhesive is applied to the portion of the back sheet which is wrapped over the top sheet. While these designs were effective for adhering the absorbent article to the skin of a user, these absorbent articles were not comfortable for users to wear, since the shape and size of the absorbent articles were the same as those absorbent articles which were attached to the undergarment or underwear of the user.
Similarly, absorbent articles that are attached to the underwear or undergarment of a user can also be uncomfortable for the user. This is because during normal movement of the body, portions of the body place opposed forces on the undergarment, which may cause the undergarment to be bunched or twisted. When this occurs, any absorbent article attached to the underwear or undergarment may also become bunched or twisted, causing discomfort to the wearer of the absorbent article. For example, the presence and absence of pressure from the absorbent article on the inner thighs as the user moves, which is often described by users as feeling “like a diaper”, is one source which compromises comfort for users of conventional absorbent articles, including liners, ultra-thin absorbent pads and maxi pads. In addition, the movement of the user or deformation of the underwear while being worn may also cause the absorbent article to have a poor fit against the body of the user, which could result in leaks from the absorbent article.
Another disadvantage of conventional absorbent articles is that the silhouette or outline of the absorbent article may be visible to others through the clothing of the user. Even currently available ultra-thin absorbent articles may be visible through tight fitting outer clothing of a user. Therefore, conventional absorbent personal care articles do not always provide discretion for users.
There is a need in the art to provide users of absorbent articles with a discrete absorbent product, which is as easy to use as a conventional pad and is comfortable to wear and will effectively prevent or reduce premature leakage from the absorbent article.